1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to vehicles and other forms of transportation which may carry two or more riders in driver/passenger tandem relationship. More particularly, the present invention relates to devices, apparatus and/or methods to maximize passenger balance, stability and safety during a ride marked by bumps, jolts, swerves, unexpected acceleration or even accidental spills.
While not intended as limited to such field of use or application, the present invention is described herein in the context of motorcycles which frequently are ridden by more than one person in tandem operator/passenger mode. The reader will appreciate that the present invention enjoys broader application ranging from personal water craft (PWC, e.g., JET SKI®) to snowmobiles, all terrain vehicles, motorbikes, scooters and even horseback.
2. Background of the Invention
Without doubt, motorcycle riding (and similar vehicle excursions such as PWC, snowmobile and all terrain vehicle) can be both economic and exhilarating. However, based on US Government studies, these experiences are not without serious risk of injury or worse. The Federal Highway Administration (via the Agency's website address fhwa.dot.gov/motorcycles/, updated Nov. 10, 2009) reports a dramatically increasing rate of motorcyclist deaths on U.S. roadways. Statistics on reported incidents show motorcycle rider fatalities (including operator and passenger) rose 115 percent between 1997 and 2005.
A research report* from the National Highway Traffic and Safety Administration, shows U.S. crash incidents resulting in motorcyclist injuries rose from 49,000 in 1998 to 103,000 in 2007—a 110% increase. Throughout that 10-year span, there were 703,000 reported motorcyclist injuries with 125,000 of those being passengers. Amazingly, 50% of these injuries occurred in accidents which did not involve other vehicles. (*NHTSA's National Center for Statistics and Analysis, Traffic Safety Facts, Research Note DDT HS 811149; July 2009, available via Internet web address: -nrd.nhtsa.dot.gov/Pubs/811149.pdf)
When two people ride in tandem relationship on vehicles of the type mentioned hereabove, the rear rider (typically referred to as the passenger) seeks stabilization and safety from falling by holding onto a vehicle part such as a seat frame or other trim. However, unless such frame and trim are a specially designed safety features, they typically offer insufficient gripping areas. Alternatively, passengers may cling to the operator indirectly via the operator's belt, clothing or harness, or most often embracing about the operator's midsection. While such precautions help steady the passenger and may prevent the passenger's fall from the vehicle during sudden acceleration or other unexpected maneuvering, this practice can be troublesome or undependable for a variety of reasons. The passenger's hands and arms may become tired over an extended period of time.
If the passenger happens to be relatively small (e.g., a child), or the operator relatively large, reaching about the operators midsection may pose considerable challenge. Moreover, vehicle operators may be distracted and passengers may grow weary from the constant embrace. Another common issue is that the passenger may have an aversion to close physical contact and purposely avoid or minimize the physical embrace with adverse consequences. Unfortunate passenger tumbles undoubtedly occur far more than reported.
Adding an extra rider to a motorcycle or similar conveyance considerably changes the vehicle's operational dynamic, particular where the operator must lean into a roadway curve, or negotiate an unexpected turn, braking action or acceleration. For example, in two-up mode (biker jargon for tandem riders), the added passenger weight and consequent shift in collective mass and center of gravity can challenge even the most experienced operator. Often advance adjustment is necessary when taking on a passenger. For example, the operator often may find it necessary to adjust the vehicle suspension and/or modify the tire pressure to accommodate the marked change. Too often this precaution is not taken, resulting in added instability.
The situation is further complicated when motorcycle passengers are found to be woefully inexperienced with respect to motorcycle dynamics, and clueless as to their own important collaborative role in vehicle control. From the passenger's viewpoint, the singular objective throughout the ride is hanging on. Succeeding in that objective without distracting or otherwise encumbering the vehicle operator is no small feat. For a variety of reasons and almost routinely, statistics clearly show that passengers continue tumbling from the rear of moving motorcycles.
This problem is widely recognized and often pursued by inventors, but obviously inadequately resolved. Proposed, and even patented, technical solutions have ranged from affixing dedicated passenger hand-grips to cycle frames, seats and gas tanks, to a myriad of operator-worn harnesses, belts or jackets incorporating specialty loops or handles to be grasped from behind. The following are documented examples of approaches taken.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,137,640 granted to inventors Rice et al. proposes a device that essentially affords a motorcycle passenger's direct interconnection to a portion of the vehicle body so as to maintain passenger's balance during transit. Rice et al. introduced a main strap loop configured to gird a forward portion of the operator's seat. Attached to lateral sides of a main strap loop are additional strap loops for grasping by each hand of the passenger. By use of this device, the passenger avoids engaging or directly holding onto the operator. The passenger may elect to hold onto the straps, as needed or desired. The positive aspect of this design, of course, is that the passenger can secure her/himself directly to the cycle and without interfering with (or binding engagement to the driver.
Unfortunately, however a passenger's tendency with such a device as taught by Rice et al. (during a maneuver-demanding crisis and more particularly during an impending spill) is that the typically inexperienced passenger will desperately cling to the strap loops, keeping both the driver and passenger entangled with the foundering vehicle. Seasoned riders know the operator (and passenger) should disengage from a cycle if it goes into a side-down slide. Protected by adequately robust garments, boots and headgear, the tumbling cyclists are best left to slide or roll independently as their ride goes down.
Specialized belt gear has been the topic of many cycle safety device patents. For example, Wolfson's U.S. Pat. No. 4,411,222 includes a pair of grip devices adapted to be attached to a belt or the like worn by the vehicle operator. Each grip device includes a handle adapted to be gripped by the passenger to maintain balance even when the vehicle negotiates a sharp turn. Donnelly's U.S. Pat. No. 5,081,719 shows another version of the driver belt configured for passenger grasping. In fact, the Donnelly device envisions a plurality of securement handles slidably mounted about the belt and locked into position for grasping by the passenger. Kelly (U.S. Pat. No. 3,896,499) and Johnson (U.S. Pat. No. 5,152,013) show still other designs where a driver's belt is modified to enable gripping by the passenger.
While belt-type devices such those discussed hereabove (by Wolfson, Donnelly, Kelly and Johnson) clearly eliminate the necessity of the passenger to retain balance by holding the operator about his/her waist or by attempting to grip an edge of the driver's seat, they still impose distracting passenger-on-operator contact. More seriously, in a vehicle emergency situation, the passenger's anxious grasp of the driver's belt handles, for example, will serve to place the interlocked riders in grave jeopardy if the bike were suddenly to go down.
In U.S. Pat. No. 4,028,742 Marquis proposes similar paraphernalia including both belt and shoulder straps worn by the cycle operator. These include spaced apart handles mounted such that they can be resiliently extended for grasping as needed, then return to an original position when not in use. Here, too, directly associating the safety device with the body of the operator places both riders at risk in an accident.
Patentee Greggains' operator jacket described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,562,812 is equipped with loops or handgrip elements. Similarly, an operator's safety garment with side slits enables insertion of a passenger's hands for grasping to an internal belt/handle arrangement is set forth by Raneri et al. in U.S. Pat. No. 3,533,107. These are further refined embodiments of the common theme—handy for passenger gripping yet decidedly unsafe, since both promote physical interconnection of the passenger to the cycle operator.
This assessment similarly applies to patentee Proffer's safety harness depicted in U.S. Pat. No. 4,625,334. The latter harness is constructed of webbing presenting alternately spaced handholds specially designed to be worn by the vehicle operator.
Existing technologies to protect and/or stabilize passengers are seen to involve (1) a physical interconnection to, or constant engagement with, the vehicle operator, or (2) a passenger interconnection or constant gripping engagement with the vehicle itself. As explained, this is not a good thing. Sorely needed in this field is a solution delivering tandem passenger security and balance as necessary, but a solution which does not involve direct attachment to the vehicle or its operator. Such an inventive solution is described in detail herebelow.